Hibiscus Tea - Balance Heat and Cold

With summer heat on it's way, my favorite way to stay a cool 72 (OK, that's what it feels to me) is drinking hibiscus tea. I always have a pitcher in the frig, all year round. After having heat stroke 4 years ago, like a poison ivy reaction, a little heat will trigger your body to relive the experience, even to waking up on the ground. After reading about natural ways to cool the body, hibiscus tea was used all over the world for regulating body temperature, whether external extremes (environment heat or cold) or internal temperature extremes.

So I initially planned a 10 day period, but noticed immediately when I was standing in over 100 degree heat (after drinking an 8 ounce glass)  I wasn't sweating, feeling a cool 72 degrees. It blew my mind! I also would get dry "hot flashes" about 3am and during my experiment, I noticed they went away as well. Many times when I start a trial period, I will discover other issues are resolved that I had not planned on. This was the case in this experiment with hibiscus tea.

You can purchase the dried hibiscus flowers (about 40 per gallon) or I found a more convenient (and portable) tea bags at the same high concentration from Nile Valley Herbs made in Austin, Texas. Other hibiscus teas I tried were tasty but didn't reduce my temperature. They were not strong enough in concentration, only 1 blossom per tea bag, so all hibiscus tea bags are not the same.

You don't need to brew, just drop in water and drink. I always keep a teabag in my purse during summer so I can grab a bottled water, roll teabag and slide into the bottle. It starts getting red immediately.

I also discovered, hibiscus tea has higher Vitamin C that Orange Juice, so it you have issues with citrus juices giving you indigestion, this is a lifesaver, cold or hot.

Wishing you wellness on your journey...

Tumeric - When it really hurts!

After overcoming major illness early in life, as well as only a few years ago, and re-booting my immune system, foot pain is confusing.  I thought my immune system, including the "structural framework",  was bulletproof. Ahhh, not yet. After a lifetime of unintentional immune system damage,a few short years are baby steps on a longer journey of wellness.

Everybody seems to have a opinion (and ready to share) when they see you limping. Some work, some don't. However, pain seems to motivate you to continue to "fine tune" and discover what works for you.

My most recent "success" is Tumeric. While many have seen on the spice aisle, it's the active ingredient in mustard and many Middle Eastern dishes.

I chewed on the Tumeric root from the produce section (next to ginger). Tastes like a funky carrot and I didn't notice any difference. However, when I opened capsules in water or HPP Tumeric Alive, I have been given the best outcome. Pain is radically reduced even during wet weather and barometer changes. I find taking it with a cracker or toast (like you would with most medications) seems to work better.

I'm continuing doses daily and inflammation is continuing to reduce. Stay Tuned...

Are You Absorbing Those Supplements?

As you read and experiment with herbal supplements to discover whether you can make the High Performance Car (i.e. your body) run better, the question should be "How much am I absorbing?".

The general consensus here in the U.S. is 20-30% with EU estimates in the teens. The short version is, the more  under attack your immune system is, the less it will allow potential "foreign invaders" by the "Fight or Flight" doorman. The doorman asks "Are you friend or foe? I'm assuming foe cause we've not been feeling so good recently". The doorman takes exception with anything liquid.  It gets VIP treatment from the doorman. This survival mechanism ensures that an organism (us) made of mostly water, stays that way..  The human body can go some time without food but not very long without liquid.

So why not use that to our advantage to ensure we absorb maximum benefits?

I tried this experiment for what I had planned on being 10 days, but noticed a difference beginning the second day. I crushed or opened capsules of all the supplements I was taking and added liquid to them.  Then I drank the contents. Now I didn't say it tasted great (peppermint tea covers up a lot of ills) but it did prove to me about the absorption (or rather the lack of) that I was experiencing. I had more energy, slept better,  and overall felt better.

At the end of the day, if you pay attention to how you feel, you can tell if you feel better, not at all or worse.

Good Luck on your wellness journey.

Probiotics - A first step

After my diagnosis, I started reading german medical manuals & websites since they are well known for their proactive stance on health.I read article after article and started a "wellness bucket list" from what I gleaned on these manuals/sites.

Getting control of sugar overgrowth seemed to be the most important. Their comment was if you don't get control of sugar overgrowth and maintain friendly bacteria, it's not a matter of IF you'll get sick, it's a matter of WHEN and WHAT disease. Sugar overgrowth and it's inflammation are a component in every major disease.

Since I discovered I was immune suppressed by way of taking a low dosage of penicillin from age 7 to 18 and birth control pills from age 17 to 30, I had no friendly bacteria just sugar in control. So I decided I needed to not only "create the friendlies" but simultaneously push out the sugar overgrowth from my filters (i.e. liver and kidneys).

I tried Dandelion, Milk Thistle and they helped but only slightly. I read an account of American Indians using Yellow Dock as a liver tonic". I tried in capsule and had no effect. I put capsules in hot tea and I felt better almost immediately. I noticed I had clearer thinking, Itching all over my body stopped, candida dissipated, roseacea on my face cleared and my energy increased. It was the first indication that I was going the right direction.

I then started adding probiotics at night to arm the "friendlies" while my body was at rest and totally focused on healing. Within a week, I added to my morning protein drink and continue to this day.

Good luck on your wellness journey...